Pitching-machine.



Patented May 20, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH 120-. WASHINGTON, u. C.

H. TORGHIANI.

- PITGHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION rum) NOV. 9, 1911.

Patented May 20, 1913.

2 BHEETS-SHEET 2.

7 -In|lllllll|llIllllllllllllllllllllllm COLUMBIA PLANDflRAPl-I CO.,WASHING ON. D. c.

. vide a machine in which the package is set.

UNITED STATll I S P A TENT OFFICE.

HARRY TORCHTANI, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOISL PITCHING-MACHINE.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY TOROHIANI, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pitching-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for coating the interior of barrels, kegs or other packages with pitch.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine in which the packages are conveyed successively into opposition with spouts or nozzles by means of which the pitch in liquid form enters into the package.

Another object of the invention is to proat rest during the period in which the pitch is introduced into the package.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for introducing pitch into the packages by means of compressed air, and to cause an even distribution of the pitch coating on the wall of the package.

Another object of the invention is to provide devices driven by the conveying means for the packages for opening and closing valves controlling the means which force the pitch into the packages or distribute the pitch evenly on the walls of the packages.

Another object of the invention is to actuate heating means in predetermined periods, for the purpose of introducing the heat ing means into a nozzle which travels with the package.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide means for returning the overflow pitch from the package to the boiler, and for keeping this returning pitch in heated condition so as to prevent clogging of the return conduit.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for removing the smoke incidental to each pitching operation and which ordinarily is an obnoxious feature of pitching machines.

With these and other objects in view I have illustrated in the accompanying drawing an embodiment of this invention which consists in the features of construction and combination of parts-hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the pitching machine, various parts being shown in section, Fig. 2 is a top plan Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 9, 1911.

Serial No. 659,329.

a section through a valve forming part of the machine.

The pitching machine preferably is erected on or close to the floor of the build- .ing, and part of the machine is disposed the floor, the bottom of the pit in a pit 0 being indicated by 1 in Fig. 1. Adjacent the machine and near the pit is a furnace shown in Fig. 2, which is used for heating and liquefying pitch and which may be of any ordinary or suitable construction, the furnace and kettle not forming part of this invention.

The boiler illustrated by way of example, is similar to the construction described in the United States Letters Patent 627781 of June 27, 1899, the pitch being discharged from the kettle 2 by means of compressed air intermittently conveyed into the reservoir 3. This reservior is divided into a plurality of chambers 3 3 separated by a wall 3, and is controlled by means of valve mechanisms 5, shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Two

outer tubes 6' extend from the kettle into the path of the conveying means for the packages and serve also for returning overflow pitchdischarged from the package during the coating operation to the kettle. The pitch itself is conveyed by means of the conduit 7 located in the outer tubing 6 and passing through a nipple 8 into a nozzle 9 secured to said nipple, the nozzle extending preferably in vertical direction.

The conveying means for the packages comprise a plurality of chains 10 in parallel arrangement and driven in synchronism by means of pulleys 11 which may derive its power from some suitable source, not shown. At that end of the machine which is opposite the driving means, the chains 10 are guided about sprockets l2, rotatable on a shaft 13 supported in bearings 14 onthe floor of the building. Secured to the driving shaft 15 are the disks 16 about which the chains 10 are guided. The shaft 15 is rotatably mounted in the bearings 17 also preferably secured to the floor of the building. The movement of the disks 16 is communicated to the respective chain 10 by means of a pawl 17 slidably disposed in a- Patented May 20, 1913.

so as to prevent sagging of the chain.

groove 18 on the disk and being continuously pulled toward its innermost position by means of the springs 19 fastened to the disks. The slidable pawl 17 is provided with an anti-friction roller 20 which, by

reason of the springs 19 is maintained inpermanent engagement with a cam 21 rigidly secured to a stationary part of the ma chine.

The links of the chains 10 may each be composed of parallel elements 101 united by joint pins 102 in a well known way. It will be seen from this that a space 104 is created confined by the parallel members 7 101 and by the pins 102 connecting the elemovement of the chainin the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 1 when the disks are rotated in direction of the arrow B. It is also obvious that the extent of the movement is dependent upon the shape of the cam 18, said cam, in the embodiment illustrated, comprising a concentric portion 181 of a comparatively large radius, an eccentric portion 182 which is shown as being of eccentric curvature, and a shoulder 183. It will be understood that the pawl 17 will cause a movement of said chain as long as the roller 20 is riding on the portion 181, while the pawl will be withdrawn from its engagement when the roller 20, by means of the springs, 19, is brought into engagement with the circumferential portion 182 of the at regular intervals, said supports comprising in the embodiment shown, cylindrical elements having edges which are finished to fit the outline of the package placed on these supports. In the embodiment shown the upper edge 25 of these supports is curved so as to form a suitable seat for a barrel. The support contains a wire netting 26 or such like, and the pitch discharged from the barrel during the injecting operation returns through this netting into the outer conduit 6, as will be clearly understood by reference to Fig. 3. A nozzle 27 is preferably centrally disposedon the hub 28 in the support, said hub being in connection with the circumferential portion by means of the spokes 29. It is therefore obvious that the nozzle 27 travels simultaneously wit-h the package placed on the support.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modification of the intermittent drive, this modification consisting of a pair of bevel gears 30 and 31, thegear 30 on the driving shaft 15 having one or more circumferential portions 32 which are smooth, It is evident that an intermittent rotation is communicated to the bevel gear 31 when the shaft 15 and the bevel gear 30 are driven continuously.

By means of a bevel gear 33 meshing with the bevel gear 34 on the shaft 35, movement is imparted to said last named shaft. The shaft 35 serves the purpose of actuating the valves 5, as will be clearly understood by reference to Figs. 2 and 4. Several of these valve mechanisms are shown in the drawing for controlling the discharge of pitch from the kettle and for controlling the dis charge of compressed air through a nozzle for purposes to be described. But as all of these mechanisms are of practically the same construction, the description of one will be sutlicient to enable a person skilled in the art to understand their construction and function.

A cam 36 adjustably mounted on the shaft intermittently engages a roller 37 at the end of a rod 38 producing thereby a movement of said rod in direction away from the shaft. After the cam has passed over said roller, the rod 38 is returned to normal position by means of the spring 39 interposed between the collar 40 on the rod and a stationary wall portion 41 as shown in Fig. 4. The opposite end of the rod 38 is connected with a rack bar 42, or it may be integral therewith, the teeth of said bar meshing with the teeth of the gear segment 43 on a shaft 44 rising from the pitch kettle, as shown in Fig. 4. By means of an intermediate gear 45, the rotation of a gear segment 46 also mounted on the shaft 44, is transmitted to the gear 47 mounted on the spindle of a valve 48 which in itself is of known construction and which does not form the subject matter of this invention. It is obvious that in the actuation of the rod 38 the valve 48 also is actuated and that the spindle of said valve is oscillated, causing thereby an opening or closing movement of said valve. hen the valve is opened, compressed air from a tank not shown in the drawing, is admitted through a conduit 90 opening into the valve casing and from there through pipe 91 into the respective compartment. By means of this compressed air pitch which entered from the kettle 2 through valves 92 in said reservoir, is forcibly expelled into the conduit 7. After passing through the conduit the liquid pitch is discharged through the nozzle 9. \Vhen the valve is in normal position the interior of the reservoir communicates through conduit 91, the valve and conduit 93 with the outer air, so that there is no pressure in the reservoir and pitch may enter the same through valves 92. Another pipe 51, leading from the third valve 48', extends to a third nozzle 52 which projects into the path of the supports for the packages and which is of a construction similarto the nozzle 9. Pipe 95 conveys compresed air to thisvalve 48 from a tank not shown.

- For the purpose of preventing waste of the pitch and for the purpose of maintaining the pitch conveyed from the kettle to the traveling nozzle 27 in liquid condition, I provide a steam jacket which is slidably disposed 011 the nozzle 9. The steam jacket 54, shown in Fig. 3, is slidably mounted on the nozzle and steam is conveyed into the same by means of the elbow piping 55 slidably guided in the stationary pipe 56 which is mounted in the conduit 6 and which receives steam from some suitable source, not shown. It will be seen from Flg. 3

' port 24 of the package has arrived in oppo sition to nozzle 9, so that the pitch which is kept at proper temperature by these heating means may be injected into the package without any waste. For this purpose a cam 60 is mounted on the shaft 35 near each of the nozzles 9 and a friction roller 61 on the connection with a lever 67 fulcrumed at 68 in the bracket and bifurcated at its opposite ends, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Pins 70 project from the prongs 69 of the bifurcation into the jacket and it is obvious therefore that by the engagement of the cam 60 with the roller 61, the lever 67 will be lifted to raise the jacket or heating means into engagement with the seat portion 58 to prevent waste of the pitch.

For the purpose of eliminating the escape of smoke from the machine, conduits 71 extend from the outer conduits 6 to fines 72 of the pitch furnace and the draft of these fiues causes the smoke to travel downwardly, as will be obvious for any expert in this art. Means are also provided for preventing waste of pitch in the travel period of the packages and these means, in the form illustrated, consist of channel irons 7 3 longitudinally interposed between the two conduits 6 pitch.

The operation of the machine is as follows An attendant positioned near the sprocket 12 places a package on that support whichin the movement of the chain is ascending from the floor of the building. The package is placed on said support so that the nozzle 27 projecting from the support enters through the bung hole or some other suitable aperture into the package, preventing therebythe package from rolling on the support. A continuous rotary movement is imparted to the driving shaft 15, and by means of the device described, as for instance the pawl 17 or the mutilated gear 30-, an intermittent movement is im parted to the support of the package. The

elements controlling this movement are adjusted so, that the support is stopped in that instant where one of the packages arrives in opposition to the stationary nozzle 9 mounted on the conduit 6. The package arriving first at C is stopped in its movement and while it is at rest cam 36 actuates the four way valve 48, so that pitch through the conduit 7 and nozzle 9 is sprayed from the respective chamber into the package. This first coating of pitch mostly serves the purpose of heating the old coating in the package; the respective kettle compartment from which the pitch is conveyed to the package at G contains previously used liquid This additional coating of old pitch softens the coating of pitch in the package and in the travel of the package from C to D the coating of old pitch is removed from the interior of the package. Upon arrival of the package at D, a second stop occurs and a coating of new pitch is applied, the conduit 7 at position D opening into a compartment which is filled with new liquid pitch. The package finally travels to the position E where compressed air is blown in through the nozzle 52, this compressed air serving for distributing the still liquid coating in the interior of the barrel uniformly over the entire surface thereof. The chain ,then continues and in the downward movement of the respective support the barrel is by gravity discharged from the machine.

I prefer to time the operation by means of the cam 18 or of the mutilated gear 30, so that the intermission between two periods of travel lasts about twenty seconds.

It is obvious that on account of the cam 60 the heating means 54 for the nozzles 9 and 52, are raised in each spraying period, preventing thereby a clogging of the conduit 7 and the nozzle 9, and also preventing the escape of pitch on the way from the nozzle 9 to the package. It will also be understood from the above description that there is continuously a plurality of packages subjected to the spraying operation, the several packages being, however, at difierent stages of the operation.

Various modifications of the invention first named nozzles relatively to said conduits to bring the same successively into opposition with said second named nozzles and means for discharging pitch from the kettle through the nozzles into the packages.

2. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles adapted to project into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for moving said first named nozzles intermittently and relatively to said conduits to bring the same suc cessively into opposition with said second named nozzles and means for discharging pitch from the kettle through the nozzles into the packages.

3. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of nozzles adapted to project into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for moving said first named nozzles intermittently and relatively to said conduits to bring the same successively into opposition with said second named nozzles and for stopping the same when they are in said position,. and means for discharging pitch from the kettle through the nozzles when said first named nozzles are at rest.

4. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of supports for the packages to be coated with pitch, nozzles secured to said supports and projecting into said packages, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, conveying chains carrying said supports, continuously driven disks about which said conveying chains are guided, means for converting the continuous movement of said disks into an intermittent movement of said conveying chains, and

means for discharging pitch from the kettle through said nozzles when the conveying chains are at rest.

5. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles adapted to project into packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said'conduits, means for discharging pitch through said conduits when said first named nozzles are in opposition to said second nozzles, and means for preventing loss of pitch between said first named and said second named nozzles.

6. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles adapted to project into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from said kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for discharging pitch from said kettle through said conduits and second named nozzles into said first named nozzles, and means for heating said second named nozzles to prevent cloggingof the same and of said conduit.

7. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of supports for the packages to be coated with pitch, .a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, nozzles rigidly carried by said supports and adapted to project into the packages, heating means for said first named nozzles, means for moving said heating means into engagement with said second named nozzles and meansfor discharging pitch from the kettle through said second named nozzles into the packages.

8. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of supports for the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said condu ts, nozzles rigidly mounted on said supports, means for discharging pitch from the kettle through said first named nozzles into said second named nozzles, movable heating jack- .ets on said first named nozzles, and means for bringing said heating jackets into engagement with said second named nozzles to prevent waste of pitch leaving said first for conveying the packages into opposition with said additional nozzle, and means for forcing compressed air into the package when the same is in opposition with said ad dit-ional nozzle.

' 10. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles projecting into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for moving said traveling nozzles intermittently and relatively to said conduits to bring the-same successively into opposition with said second named nozzle, means for discharging pitch from the kettle through the second named nozzles into the packages, additional conduits surrounding said first named conduits for returning overflow pitch from the package to the kettie, and smoke conveying pipes opening into said additional conduits.

11. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles projecting into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for moving said traveling nozzles intermittently and relatively to said conduits to bring the same successively into opposition with said second named nozzles, means for discharging pitch from the kettle through the second named nozzles into the packages, additional conduits surrounding said first named conduits for returning overflow pitch from the packages to the kettle, fiues in connection with said kettle and smoke conveying pipes leading from said additional conduits into said fines for removing the smoke incidental to the pitching operation.

12. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles projecting into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for bringing said traveling nozzles successively into opposition with said second named nozzles, a nozzle for introducing compressed air into the pack ages after the same are coated with pitch, and means for returning overflow pitch from the packages during their travel between said nozzles.

18. A pitching machine comprising in combination, a plurality of traveling nozzles projecting into the packages to be coated with pitch, a kettle containing pitch, conduits extending from the kettle, nozzles on said conduits, means for bringing said traveling nozzles successively into opposition with said second named nozzles, means for injecting pitch from the kettle into the packages when the same are in opposition to said second named nozzles, a nozzle forintroducing compressed air into the packages after the pitching operation, means for conveying the packages into opposition with the compressed, air nozzle, a conduit for returning overflow pitch from the packages in their travel between said nozzles, and means for heating said pitch returning conduit.

Chicago, Illinois, November fourth, -1911.

HARRY TORCHIANI.

Witnesses:

FELIX STERN, FRANCES STAPEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, 

